I Don't Want to be a Hero - Second Year
Chapter Seventeen
Who Let the Basilisk Out?
a/n: 15 Sept 2014 update - big re-write to fix a plot sinkhole that was pointed out to me by The-dreamer4.
Hermione, Harry, and Draco were chatting about Draco's snake, Parselmouths, and dueling in general when they were interrupted in their walk by water in the second floor corridor coming from the abandoned girls bathroom. Not far from the door to the girls bathroom was the prone figure of a man.
"It's Mr. Filch!" Harry said suddenly as he skidded slightly, and then crouched down beside the man. With slight hesitation he touched the man's neck feeling for a pulse. When he felt a thready heartbeat he let out a sigh of relief. "Just knocked out…"
Hermione interrupted as she stepped gingerly away from a crimson that was colouring the water on the floor. "Not quite, Harry. Mr. Filch's is bleeding."
Harry stood up. "Draco, you get Madame Pomfrey, and I'll go to the Great Hall," decided Harry. "Are you alright with staying here, Hermione?"
She nodded. "I'll be okay, Harry." Hermione crouched down beside Mr. Filch and touched his shoulder. As the boys ran off, the witch ordered, "Hurry back!"
Whether Harry and Draco heard her Hermione would never know. In seconds she was alone with the caretaker, and water was still flowing slowly from the bathroom.
For a few minutes Hermione just stood where she was but then she began to examine Filch. She figured that he must have slipped in the water, and then hit his head. Hermione found a tell-tale gash on the temple closest to the floor. Her attention was suddenly taken away from the injured man when she noticed that the flow of the water had increased. The witch sighed in exasperation; Myrtle had really created a mess.
Stepping carefully she pushed open the bathroom door preparing to call out to Myrtle when she saw that the huge, octagonal sink near the door had parted like a pie. One section was gone, and there was a dark hole in the floor. Hermione hesitated but again her curiosity teased. Unfortunately, an old, errant bar of hand soap that had fallen to the floor, sent Hermione right down into that darkness. She screamed in terror as she fell… fell… and never seemed to stop.
Slipping from hiding in one of the toilet stalls Moaning Mrytle floated cautiously across the wet bathroom floor to the dark hole revealed by the open sinks. As Hermione's screams faded the ghost watched as the missing sink rose up from the darkness with a rough, grinding sound. The once missing sink settled into place, and was joined by the others to hid the darkness.
Hermione was gone.
Draco arrived back on the second floor with Madame Pomfrey who went immediately to see to Mr. Filch. Not far behind was Harry with his father, Professor Malfoy, and the Headmistress. Remus Lupin with Albus Dumbledore had followed out of curiosity.
Once at the tableau of running water, Mr. Filch and Madame Pomfrey, Harry went to his father's side, and Draco went to stand by his father. Neither said anything but they watched. It did not occur to them to wonder where Hermione was.
An argument, of sorts, was going on between the two Heads of Hogwarts, and Severus turned to his son, "Harry, stay here. We need to discover what has agitated the Old Man."
Harry only nodded as Lucius and his father stepped into the argument.
"Harry," whispered Draco, "The water is still." Harry glanced down at the wet floor of the corridor. "Where's Hermione?" asked Draco worriedly as he looked around.
"Maybe she stopped the leak," said Harry glancing at the bathroom door.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened," muttered Dumbledore as he looked worriedly down upon the injured Squib.
"What are you babbling about, Albus? Filch simply slipped and fell," snapped Snape.
"I had tea a few nights ago with Sybil, and she had a vision that the Chamber of Secrets would be opened, and reveal its greatest secret," replied Albus off-handedly.
Severus' glanced upward in exasperation. "Sybil had a vision? The woman is a fraud, Albus. A sherry-pickled charlatan," he castigated the older man. "As for the Chamber of Secrets… it is a myth."
"How would you know, Severus?" demanded Remus as he scowled at the Potions Master for a perceived insult towards Albus.
"Read your history, Lupin," glared Severus. "The only time the Chamber is mentioned is in the book Hogwarts: A History of 1901."
"And, anyone who has read it knows after doing a bit of their own research that the book is full of holes and fallacy," added, Lucius.
"Yet only one who had known Tom Riddle as a student would know he had searched for the Chamber," shot back Albus, "and for the monster that lived within it."
"That still does not make the Chamber a reality, Albus," asserted Severus.
"No, it does not, my boy," sighed Albus with exasperation. "But when Tom Riddle killed poor Myrtle Tremble in his quest it gave the Chamber of Secrets a certain verisimilitude."
"What?" demanded Severus with incredulity.
"Albus!" gasped Minerva. "Tom was many things but he was a model student here."
"Before becoming an evil bastard," interrupted Remus caustically.
Minerva scowled briefly at Remus for his intrusion. "It was determined that Hagrid's spider caused Myrtle's death by frightening her."
Albus shook his hoary head, "You really ought to speak to the ghost, my dear…"
Minerva glared at the old wizard, "Albus, the past of a ghost does not matter at the moment. We must tend to Mr. Filch. Poppy? How is he?"
The Hogwarts Healer did not look away from her patient as she answered, "Argus fractured his skull upon the floor. I've stopped the bleeding from the injury on his temple. I'll be able to take care of the fracture once I get him down to the Infirmary."
"Thank you, Poppy," sighed Minerva. "Remus, take Albus back to the Great Hall so you both can finish eating. Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Snape you should both head to your afternoon classes. Lucius, Severus, if you need to finish lunch you may. I am going with Poppy to the Infirmary to make sure Argus will recover suitably."
Madame Pomfrey had the caretaker on a stretcher that she was levitating. The two witches, and insensate Mr. Filch went down the corridor, and disappeared from view at the end.
Severus and Lucius were about to tell their sons to return to their classes when Harry noted, "Dad, Hermione's missing. She stayed here with Filch but now she's gone."
"And, the water's stopped running," continued Draco.
"The girl has that unfortunate Gryffindor curiosity," considered Lucius. "Perhaps she is in the bathroom and she found a way to stop the flood."
"Shall we find out, my cogitating friend?" smirked Severus with annoyance as he pushed into the bathroom. Speculation only delayed investigation; at least in this case.
Lucius followed Severus, and the boys followed him. Both the adults checked the stalls, and Draco and Harry just looked around. Harry, frustrated, called out to the ghost.
"Myrtle? Can you come here?" he asked politely.
The ghost came up through the floor and glared at Harry who backed up a step, "Did you send that awful snake, Harry?" she accused.
"What snake?" asked Draco.
"The one that killed me, dim-dim," she spoke acidly and moved so swiftly into Draco's face he slipped on a bar of soap. His backside hit the hard floor, and he grouched out, "Ow!"
"How come it didn't hurt you?" Harry asked.
Myrtle did not answer. She rolled her eyes, and floated up to the ceiling humming something out of tune.
"Harry, she is a ghost," his father enlightened him. "Myrtle is impervious to those things that a living being would be vulnerable to."
"Miss Tremble," began Lucius with a smile, and a touch of charm, "delighted to make your acquaintance. Did you happen to see if this snake caused Mr. Filch to fall and injure himself?"
"Ooooh your hair is pretty!" cooed Myrtle as she floated downward. Her ghostly hand brushed through several strands of his hair, and he shivered at her chill closeness. "I did see that awful monster, pretty wizard, but Hephaestus is just monstrously huge."
"Hephaestus?" queried Severus.
"The snake you nit," Myrtle frowned. "Pay attention!"
Severus frowned darkly. He would have hexed that impertinent dunderhead if she were not a ghost.
"If the snake killed you why didn't it kill them?" asked Harry.
"Ooohhhh," the ghost wailed as she weaved before them. "The water was everywhere coming from the sinks, and that Squib was so mad at 'those meddling kids'." She then swept up dramatically in front of Harry's face. "How should I know?"
"I don't understand…" Harry said softly.
Lucius and Severus suspected something as they glanced at each other. Lucius posited, "A snake that kills…"
"Not anymore, pretty man," Myrtle spoke flirtatiously as she rubbed her shoulder against his. She ignored his flinch at her cold touch. Myrtle circled her bespectacled eyes with her fingers. "But when I saw it… Its eyes… ahhhhh… and I looked right into those lovely, jeweled eyes…" she cried and wailed, "... I died! Poor, poor Hephaestus!"
Myrtle flew away from the four wizards and her moans filled the bathroom which unfortunately echoed with her anguished cries.
Draco and Harry watched her flit about above them screaming and crying but Lucius and Severus ignored her as they talked quietly amongst themselves.
"Stop that superfluous caterwauling, Miss Tremble!" Severus commanded. The noise instantly ceased, and a sudden, and contrite ghost floated down to him. She pouted in apology. "I have an important question for you in regards to that snake."
"Yes, sir?" she nodded with a small voice.
"When you saw that snake today how large was it?" Severus demanded.
To all of their surprise the ghost changed abruptly into the form of such a huge snake she sent Lucius onto his backside, Severus grabbing his son, and ducking for cover, and Draco running to the door. Just as quickly as the huge snake towered over them in a silvery, scaly form, Myrtle was back, prim and proper with her hands lightly clasped over her abdomen. She was smiling smugly.
"That big," she giggled.
All four wizards picked themselves up, and returned to area near the octagonal sinks where Myrtle smugly floated. She was humming another tune that, even though it was off-key, sounded much like 'Rule Brittania'.
"That… was unnecessary, Miss Tremble," Severus' dark voice of disapproval drifted over her.
"What was that, dad?" asked Harry.
"Hephaestusssss…" Myrtle sang from within one of the toilet stalls.
Lucius was the living wizard to reply, "That was a basilisk."
Draco, still worried about what happened to Hermione, finally asked, "Myrtle, did you see Hermione?"
Myrtle's hand covered her mouth as she moaned softly, and then she pointed at the octagonal sink. No one seemed to know what she was indicating. Harry, though, walked up to the sink and saw the same odd faucet he had seen a few days before. He then examined all of the faucets.
"What are you seeing, Harry?" Severus asked of his son.
"The faucets," he pointed. "They're all the same except this one. This one is a snake."
Myrtle peered between Lucius and Severus who had gathered closer to view the snake faucet. Harry suddenly possessed of a compulsion he could not shake away leaned on the edge of the sink, and muttered, "Nah neh sthahhh yehhh."
With a click, and then a grind, the sink Harry leaned against sank right out beneath him. He teetered on the edge, and just as Severus snatched for his son, Harry fell. He screeched, screamed, and then oddly whooped with laughter.
"EWWWWWWW!" his laughter was followed by a very distant sound of disgust. "DAD! Professor Malfoy! Draco!"
"Harry!" shouted Severus as more of the opening was uncovered by the other sinks pulling away from the centre. "Are you all right?"
"YEAH! It's a slimy slide…! I see Hermione's scarf! Come on!" Called Harry.
"A Dirt Repellent Charm, I think, Severus," suggested Lucius. Severus nodded, turned his wand upon himself, and cast a quick charm to keep any dirt from attaching itself to him or his clothing. Then, without further ado, he jumped into the opening, and vanished.
"Severus?" called Lucius down into the darkness.
"Uncle Severus are you okay?!" shouted Draco.
"We are without injury!" answered the Potions Master's distant voice minutes later. "Draco, you first! Lucius, wait two minutes and then you come down but Summon a few brooms, first!"
"It's fun, Draco!" yelled Harry encouragingly.
"Get along, Dragon," said Lucius. "Assure your uncle that I will have four brooms with me. Go."
Draco peered over the edge, gulped, closed his eyes, and jumped. He let out a high-pitched scream that ended in a hearty laugh.
Lucius had Summoned the brooms and shrank them. Tucking them into a pocket he glanced up just as he felt the temperature in the air drop; the ghost was watching him.
"Yes, Myrtle?" asked Lucius.
She waved her finger sharply at him. "Don't you hurt that big snake, now, pretty man. Hephaestus is actually quite nice and ever so sorry for what he did to me."
"He could kill any one of us accidentally," Lucius countered.
She shrugged, and floated up to the ceiling. "Don't look at his eyes, then. Easy-peasey!"
"Hm," Lucius grunted. "Indeed." He looked over the edge. As much as he chose to deliberate and analyse, his son was down in the darkness and he would not be a proper father if he did not follow. He then leapt into the darkness, and his voice echoed, "Ohhhhh bloodyyyyy…. MERLIN!"
Myrtle watched the dark opening, and then she floated near. She whispered, "So-flusss sea-ahhh flowwwww." Smiling, and giggling, she watched as all the sinks moved back into place, and when the last one rose up from the darkness… all was as it was before.
a/n: The two Parseltongue words are Open as spoken by Harry, and Close as spoken by Moaning Myrtle. Both words are phonetically spelled by me from the Parseltongue translator - very fun to play with. I will add a link to it on my profile.
Who let the basilisk out? Myrtle. She's been doing so for quite some time. As to her being a Parselmouth - no. As Ron did she listened. Keep in mind that Myrtle is a ghost and she hears, and sees a lot in Hogwarts.